Velho Chico
"Velho Chico" is a Brazilian telenovela written by Benedito Ruy Barbosa, Edmara Barbosa and Bruno Luperi for Rede Globo. It's an original story and it aired from March 14 to September 30, 2016. It consisted of 173 episodes. The main stars are Domingos Montagner and Camila Pitanga. Synopsis The forbidden romance between Santo dos Anjos and Maria Tereza, which begins with their ancestors in the 1960s, is confronted by conflicts between rival families in the dispute over ownership of land and power, and culminates today in the midst of fight for the rebirth of the São Francisco River, the Velho Chico (Old Boy). At the end of the 1960s, in the fictitious Grotas de São Francisco, Northeast Brazil the powerful Colonel Jacinto), known as Colonel Saruê, commands politics, the economy and everything that appears in front of him. He is also watching the lands of Captain Ernesto Rosa. Owner of Piatã farm, the captain has the morale and courage to face the figure of the all-powerful colonel, and this is what causes the beginning of the duel that will cross generations to the present day. Jacinto is married to Encarnação, an embittered woman, marked by the tragic death of the eldest son. The only heir of the couple that remains is Afrânio, who left to study law in Salvador, but continued to live at the expense of his rich family. There he fell in love with a singer Iolanda, a young woman ahead of her time. His father's sudden death, however, causes Afranio to return home to take over his business - leaving his beloved and his doctoral post to become the newest Colonel Saruê. At the behest of his mother, the new colonel begins to visit his father's partners in the area. It is in one of these meetings that he ends up getting involved with Leonor, daughter of Aracaçú. With the affair discovered, they are forced to marry. From this union at the base of the machete, Maria Tereza was born by the hands of her own grandmother, who curses her daughter-in-law because she expected, at least, a male grandson. On the other side, Captain Ernesto Rosa is a correct man and lives a happy marriage with Eulália. The two adopted Luzia, who was found as a baby in the middle of the cotton plantation. At the same time, the couple welcomed in their home the detainees Belmiro dos Anjos, Piedade and their baby boy Santo. The children became "brother and sister by milk", but over time the girl eventually fell in love with the boy. In a procession of St. Francis of Assisi in the city of Grotas, the lives of Maria Tereza and Santo cross. Representing Our Lady and St. Joseph, the two throw themselves into the waters of the river and, there, the Velho Chico joins their paths. The forbidden love ends up being discovered by the young woman's father, Afranio. Facing the situation, he places his daughter in a boarding school in Salvador far from her beloved. From there, Maria Tereza begins to send letters to her beloved informing him that she is pregnant. But Santo never received such letters, which were intercepted by Luzia, still in love with him. Twenty years later, Maria Tereza returns to her hometown, now married to the ambitious politician Carlos Eduardo. And that is where Velho Chico guides the course of this history and of this love, when the reunion of Maria Tereza and Santo (Domingos Montagner) is inevitable, even though each one has trodden their way and formed their families, who are to this day still fighting. Trivia * The project of 'Velho Chico' was kept for years and was firstly intended to be a telenovela for the 6:00 PM timeslot. With the need to reallocate the ambiances of 9:00 PM (which a decade ago did not leave the Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo setting), it was decided to rescue this plot of Benedito Ruy Barbosa, as a matter of urgency, since the telenovela that would replace 'A regra do jogo' - 'A lei do amor', by Maria Adelaide Amaral and Vincent Villari - had been delayed and ended up premiering as the replacement for 'Velho Chico'. * Unfortunately, 'Velho Chico' was marked by a tragedy. On the afternoon of September 15, 2016 (two weeks before the series finale), the actors Domingos Montagner and Camila Pitanga, in a recording interval, went swimming in the São Francisco River, in the Canindé region of São Francisco, in Sergipe. Camila managed to escape from the strong current, but Domingos was not so lucky. Four hours later, his body was found lifeless. In an unfortunate coincidence, in the plot of the telenovela, a month before, his character, the protagonist Santo dos Anjos, had disappeared in the river. But this time, life did not imitate art. Santo was found alive, Domingos did not. The actor was 54 years old. The character continued to appear in the last two weeks of the telenovela through a device of direction: the subjective camera. Instead of interacting with Montagner, the actors interacted with the camera, and the viewer saw the sequences through the protagonist's eyes. * The cast had already lost actor Umberto Magnani (Father Romão on the show), who died on April 27, 2014 at the age of 75, two days after suffering a hemorrhagic en-cephalic stroke during the show's filming. The actor Carlos Vereza was called to replace him and another character was introduced. * On December 31, 2016, three months after the series finale was aired, actor Adílson Maghá died, who had made a small but important guest appearance, as a blind man who informs Martim (Lee Taylor) about his maternal family. Maghá died at the age of 68 from lung cancer. * Rodrigo Santoro was away from the telenovela genre for thirteen years - the last one he filmed was 'Mulheres apaixonadas' in 2003-2004. His last guest appearance on Brazilian television was in an episode of Globo's anthology drama series 'As brasileiras' in 2012. Cast Main cast First phase Second phase Guest stars Category:2016 telenovelas Category:Rede Globo telenovelas Category:Brazilian telenovelas